Abbreviations

Marks of contraction or suspension

Abbreviations are commonplace today, for example, Mrs., Mr., Dr., Col., but before 1750 many more are found. These are the vestiges of a widespread medieval system of abbreviation. Clerks usually drew the reader's attention to abbreviations by making a mark of suspension or contraction.

umquhile is a common word used in testaments meaning deceased. In this example, the clerk has written vmqle with a tittle mark of contraction (a horizontal dash above the short letters m, q and e and through the ascender of the letter l ) to denote that letters are missing from the middle of the word. This would be transcribed as vmq[uhi]le.

This is the word Testament but the clerk has abbreviated it to Test and made a mark of suspension after the last letter. This would be transcribed as Test[ament].

'p' prefixes

Pay particular attention to words beginning with the letter p, which may be an abbreviation to signify certain prefixes or appear in the middle of a word:

A horizontal stroke through the descender of the letter p signifies the prefix per-, por- or par-.

A curl through the descender of the letter p signifies the prefix pro-.

A wavy line or backward curl running vertically upwards from the letter p signifies the prefix pre- or prae-.

Obsolete letters

Another form of abbreviation was to write a superscript letter, especially after the (now defunct) letter thorn which signifies the letters th:

Dates

Interference

Look for interference from descending letters from the line above or ascending letters from the line below. Take these strokes into account by imagining them absent from the word you are reading.

Latin words

In the medieval period most documents were written in Latin and as time progressed into the sixteenth century and beyond the use of Latin words persisted until their use gradually declined. Latin is also used for legal terms and for common words and phrases, for example, summa meaning total appears in inventories.

Consult our glossary. If the word or phrase is not there, refer to a Latin word list, such as Eileen Gooder, 'Latin for Local History', London, 2nd. edition, 1978; and/or R. E. Latham, 'Revised Medieval Latin Word-list from British and Irish Sources', London, 1965.

Medical terms

Occupations

View our glossary for a list of occupations, their definitions and variants, compiled from various sources including those taken directly from the index to wills and testaments.

Numbers and sums of money

The word may not be a word at all, but a number or sum of money or amount of agricultural produce written in Roman numerals, for example Cxiv = 114. Remember that a good way to spot numerals is when the last i is rendered as a j, for example, iij = 3.

Phonetic spelling

If you are fairly certain of all the letters which make up the word, but you don't recognise the word, the first thing to consider is that the spelling is phonetic rather than the modern version of the word your eye is used to recognising.

Scots words

Alternatively the word might be a Scots word. The further back one goes the more Scots language one encounters. Common Scots words occurring are relict which means widow and compeared which means appeared before a court. Note also the Scots plural form -is, and the Scots past participle -it.